United We Are Strong
by Pkr1rama7
Summary: When Harry's friends find out about his treatment at the Dursleys, how will they react? New friendships are formed, long held trust is strained, and darkness looms closer. Will Harry have enough support to survive the year with the Tri-Wizard tournament coming to Hogwarts? Rated M to be safe.


United We Are Strong

AN: My first story, I hope you guys like it. Feedback and constructive criticism are welcomed... naturally I do not own the characters, or anything associated with Harry Potter, I just play around in the sandbox that is the world created by J.

Harry woke up with a start to the sound of banging on his door. Letting out a groan he lifted himself to a sitting position, his back against the wall. "Boy, you get up this instant!" the voice of his enraged uncle Vernon bellowed through the door, making Harry jump slightly. Looking at the clock with a jolt of panic he realized he woke up too late to make breakfast for his relatives. He quickly hoped out of bed wincing in pain as his whole body fought him. Tired and sore all over he got dressed as fast as he could to face his uncle. "Sorry girl this is going to get really loud in a moment" he whispered to his beloved pet owl Hedwig as he proceeded towards the door of his room.

Slowly he opened the door to face his uncle who was standing inches outside his door. His face was red with anger and he was dressed in one of his overly expensive suits. He must be meeting with somebody important today, thought Harry noticing the suit. He was wrenched from his thoughts by his uncles roaring "What is the meaning of this boy? We give you a roof over your head, a place to sleep, food to eat and you cant even do the courtesy of being awake in time to make breakfast for us?" Turning slightly away to avoid the spittle from his enraged uncle Harry replied "sorry sir, I slept in, but I didn't mean to honest, I'm sorry." His uncle merely grunted in reply "Well it just so happens my Petunia made breakfast for me, though you will be expected to clean up the dishes." Harry did his best to hide a groan, knowing his aunts horrible cooking there were probably going to be plenty of burnt and hard to clean dishes. "We'll be having a chat when I get home about your waking up on time" his uncle dragging out and emphasizing chat. He looked at his watch and turned away with a final grunt and left for work, leaving Harry to get working on his chores.

Harry walked downstairs to the kitchen determined to get the dishes done first. He didn't want his aunt chasing him around all day yelling at him about her messy kitchen. His earlier fears of a lot of dishes were confirmed at the sight of the pile of burnt or dirty dishes. He was surprised that the smoke alarm didn't go off and wake him up sooner. He did his best to ignore his aunt who was moving between their living room window to peer at the neighbors, and glaring at him from a distance. Watching him while he slowly scraped and scrubbed away. Since he didn't hear the T.V or Dudly's computer when he came downstairs Harry assumed he must be out of the house. Either with his gang terrorizing the local kids or vandalizing some public park. A couple of hours later the dishes were done and the rest of the kitchen was clean. Harry moved on and grabbed his list of chores off the counter and looked it over.

His list of chores consisted of the usual tasks: dust, vacuum and tidy the house. Weed the garden, water the plants, sweep the driveway, and have dinner ready for his relatives by 5:30 sharp. These were the chose he had to do every day. Though sometimes he wondered about some and if they were just there so he could be worked harder. He also had to wash the house once every two weeks, mow the lawn twice a week, and wash his uncle's car every 3 days. Having just washed his uncle's car yesterday this was one of his easier days. He got to work on the inside chores first wanting to get away from his aunts cold stare as soon as he could. His day dragged on slow as usual going from chore to chore. It was now into the last week of July, one week until he could get out of this house and go back to living with the Weasleys. Only Six days until he turned 14, not that he expected much of a birthday let alone a party.

He hadn't heard from Sirius at all, but he wasn't surprised. Considering he was on the run and had the whole British ministry of magic after him Sirius had a lot more on his plate. Harry had however received quite a few letters from his two best friends Ron and Hermione. Ron's letters were mostly short and usually consisted of "hey Harry, I hope those muggles aren't treating you to horribly. (something about being annoyed with his owl Pig, or sister Ginny or older brothers Percy, Fred, or George.)' Hermione's letters in vast contrast were the same as how she turned in her homework, long and thorough. Spending the first few lines asking question after question, "How are you feeling? Have you done your summer assignments? Have you heard from Sirius? Are your relatives treating you alright? She also told in great deal about her family's vacations. This year they traveled through Greece and the Mediterranean, her letters often full of random facts about ancient Greece. "Did you know that it was the Greeks who first started harnessing and controlling magic?" or "I just wish I could read some of the older tomes they have but they're all written in ancient Greek." He hadn't however heard from Prof. Dumbledore aside from the fact that he would be picked up by the Weasleys in a ministry car. (Harry assumed because they thought Sirius was a deranged killer and wanted to keep the-boy-who-lived safe).

Harry was just putting the finishing touches on dinner when his uncle walked through the front door. Without a word his uncle hung up his coat, took off his shoes and sat at the table to eat. Dudley who had returned home just a few minutes before was already seated looking hungrily at the food while his mother sat stiffly still glancing out the window. Harry placed their food on the table, already having cleaned up the dishes used to cook the meal he was able to take the small portion of food his aunt had allowed and return to his room to eat. (Freaks don't eat at the table with regular folk, his uncle would say). He slowly walked upstairs, his muscles aching from the days work and lack of sleep. Once inside his room he immediately walked over to Hedwig's cage and fed her some scraps off his plate. He was glad they would be gone soon so she could be fed properly and get exercise, she had been looking weaker and thinner by the day. After he finished his food Harry took his plate back down to the dishwasher and quietly slipped outside and wandered to the nearby playground. Sitting on one of the swings to give him some peace he sat and thought about his summer.

As much as he wanted to see his friends and be able to enjoy the outside without constantly looking over his shoulders for his cousins gang, he figured at least for the first few days all he would want to do is sleep and relax. He was just tired, mentally and physically. Day after day he worked all morning and afternoon doing chores around the house, the evenings spent avoiding Dudly's gang. Early on he thought with his increased workload he would at least be able to build some muscle. He got so little food however that, once he given some to Hedwig he had barely enough for himself. His relatives made sure he had enough to give him the energy to get through the days chores if just barely. This did nothing to help him maintain a healthy body mass, instead merely delayed his weight loss. Mentally he was just drained. He was tired of the yelling that he received daily. He hadn't heard his name used since he said goodbye to his friends at the end of school. (His aunt always referring to him as 'boy', Dudley stuck with 'freak' while his uncle alternated between the two to suit his liking). He missed the hugs he got from Mrs. Weasley, and the overall feeling of belonging he got while he was with the Weasleys.

As the sun started to set and the sounds of Dudly's gang approached, Harry decided it was time to head back to his relatives house. He wanted to try to get to sleep tonight so he wouldn't oversleep again in the morning. As we was walking home he crossed paths with Dudley and his gang. "Going somewhere freak?" his cousin taunted while his gang jeered and laughed. Too tired to come up with a reply Harry just turned to ignore them and keep walking home. "What's the matter freak? Cat got your tongue?" Dudley jeered as Harry felt a shove from behind him. His legs collided with Dudley who had just stuck his leg out in front of Harry to trip him. Harry just managed to reach his arms out to break his fall. He landed hard on the ground the sound of his cousins gangs laughter and taunts ringing loudly in his ears. He gingerly got up while his tormentors walked off to go off terrorizing some other poor kids. Slowly Harry made his way home where he managed to get changed into his pajamas. One of his many hand me downs from Dudley (all of them many sizes too big). With a final goodnight to Hedwig he turned out the lights, went to bed and dreamed of leaving for the Weasleys. The week just wouldn't be able to go by fast enough.

AN: Thank you for reading, I'll try to update regularly, once again feedback and criticism are welcomed


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